The Wings open there pre-season with thrashing of Minnesota 6-1. Franzen with 2 goals and an assist, Datsyuk with 1+2, Chelios with 1+1, and Homer with 3 assists. Grigorenko had an assist and Sopel, who is on tryout basis scored for the Wings. Good beginning. If we get points from Franzen, Grigorenko, and Chelios on reguar basis - watch out the rest of the NHL.

Wings lose to Minnesota in their second preseason game 3-2 on strength of Wild's 3 powerplay goals. Hasek played half of the game and looked good. Wings mostly played second-tier players who are not expected to make the team.

Chelios scores in the overtime and Wings go to 2-1 in the pre-season after beating Pittsburgh 1-0. Ozzie played first two periods and stopped all 18 shots. Jimmy Howard played the 3rd and overtime and had to face only 3 shots which he stopped. Wings defense has been stingy so far. Note: Rafalski missed the game with hip flexor.

Red Wings are 4-2 in the exhibition season so far. It is difficult to read much into it, especially considering the fact that teams don't bring their full squads for the road games due to quantity of games played over the short period of time. It was clear in the last game when Rangers brought less than full team to Detroit and Wings beat up on them 6-1. What I do like, however, is that Babcock split up Zetterberg and Datsyuk and so far they both have been productive. Franzen has been a regular contributor throughout the pre-season which is good news since Red Wings are going to count on him to provide scoring. So far the possible lines for the Wings for the season look like:

M73, do you think Grigorenko will stick? That 3rd line looks like a second checking line.

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He said he's going to stay in US. From what I'm reading from US sources - he's a disappointment so far. Babcock is not going to mess around. This is a contending team and he won't leave any lose ends. It is a possibility they may sign or trade for someone experienced. They have excess on the blue line, so look for them to try to move someone, possibly Meech, especially if Sopel sticks around. Anyway, coming back to Grigorenko - according to the Russian news he said that he's going to do whatever it takes to stay in NHL. According to his words it is now or never. Correspondent also mentions that he spoke to Scotty about Igor, and Scotty said that he has tools and experience playing the game, but he needs to get used to the pace of the NHL games and he needs to gain experience playing in North America. Scotty also mentioned that there is noticeable improvement in Grigorenko's game comparatively to when the training camp opened, and that the team has high hopes for him. In my mind, Wings have some leeway in their division, especially since the rest of the teams is weaker. Maybe, that is an opportunity for them to throw the guy in and see what he's made of and how he adjusts. Or maybe give him a couple of weeks at Kalamazoo and see if he gets better and is ready for promotion. Otherwise, if he's still in minors, he's going to have a very difficult decision - he would make a lot more money playing for the Russian team and he has an out clause.

Igor Grigorenko has struggled early in his transition to the North American game, but the rookie from Russia might be getting the hang of it. Grigorenko scored the winning goal of the shootout in the Wings' 3-2 exhibition victory over the Lightning Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena. The goal left captain Nicklas Lidstrom and coach Mike Babcock impressed with Grigorenko. "It's great for him to score a goal like that," Lidstrom said of Grigorenko. "You could see he was confident. He's picking up the pace. He knows it's a faster game here than in Europe. He's reading plays well and understands what we're doing out there."

For a half dozen seasons now, the Detroit Red Wings have been counted out of the Central Division race by the so-called experts before one game is even played, and all the club does every year is go out and finish in first place.

But who can blame the previewers? When you look at the Wings' lineup it looks more like a senior league roster than an NHL roster. Heading into the 2007-08 season, Detroit has nine players who are 34 or older, five who are 36 or older and two in their 40s. But year in and year out, the team finds the fountain of youth and manages to put up 100 points and qualify for the playoffs without fail. A lot of the Red Wings' success can be attributed to the their captain Nicklas Lidstrom. The 37-year-old logs tons of minutes each year and chips in on both sides of the puck. Last year, Lidstrom scored 62 points in 80 games off 13 goals and 49 assists and was an astounding plus-40. The Swedish sensation also won his fifth Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, becoming the first five-time winner since Ray Bourque. Dominik Hasek was also another reason the Red Wings finished in first in the Central last season. The 42-year-old puck-stopper showed he still had the goods to be one of the game's best, finishing 38-11-6 with a 2.05 GAA, eight shutouts and a .913 save percentage in 56 games. His 34-year-old backup, Chris Osgood, also had a solid season, going 11-3-6 with a 2.38 GAA and a .907 save percentage. The duo should be among the league's best again in 2007-08. At 45, Chris Chelios is an anomaly. Year-after-year he shows up and competes at a high level. While he's not the offensive player he once was in his younger days, he is still a force on the defensive side of the puck. Last year, he averaged a little over 18 minutes a game for Detroit in 71 games, finishing the year with 11 points and a plus-11 rating. In the postseason, he was also a force, finishing a plus-7 in 18 games while contributing one goal and six assists.

Age hasn't slowed down Tomas Holmstrom (34), Kris Draper (36) or Kirk Maltby (34) either. Holmstrom was Detroit's second-leading goal-scorer (30) last year and fourth-leading point-producer (52). Draper chipped in 14 goals and 15 assists, while Maltby contributed 11 points off six goals and five assists. Look for key contributions from free-agent acquisitions, Dallas Drake and Brian Rafalski also. At 38, Drake proved last year that he still has something left in the tank, posting 12 points in 60 games for the St. Louis Blues. At 34, Rafalski will be a force for years to come in Detroit, as he has the skills to thwart an offensive attack, while also having the ability to light up the opposition in a moment's notice. Last year for the defensive-minded Devils, Rafalski put up a career-best 55 points in 82 games. But the Red Wings aren't all old and crusty. The team also has a lot of young talent — especially up front, where Pavel Datsyuk (29) and Henrik Zetterberg (26) earn their living. Datsyuk led the club in scoring last year with 87 points in 79 games, while Zetterberg led the team in goals with 33 in only 63 games. The team is expecting good things out of youngsters Valtteri Filppula, Igor Grigorenko, Tomas Kopecky and Jiri Hudler. On defense, the future is now for 26-year-old Niklas Kronwall, who really made his presence and value known last season when posted 22 points in 68 games in just over 20 minutes of icetime per game.

I had hoped I wouldn’t be doing this last-minute, but it’s my senior year of college and I don’t think I’ve ever been busier. So, I’ve had a hard time fitting the site in. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up regular posting as I get into the swing of things as far as day-to-day operations go. With that said, here’s my look at the upcoming season.

The adjectives "younger" and "quicker" have been missing from the vocabularies of the Detroit Red Wings for more than a decade. However, with 11 of 23 players on the roster for tonight's NHL_season opener against the Anaheim Ducks being under 30, those adjectives have been dusted off. "The growth of our team isn't about bringing new people here," Wings coach Mike Babcock said Tuesday. "It's about the people within growing into their jobs."